1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to office accessories used in conjunction with storage shelves and more particularly to office accessories which are used to keep books, pamphlets, loose papers or other information containing materials organized.
2. Related Prior Art
Over the past decades, places of business have advanced significantly in the type of equipment used along with the amount of information, such as printed material, generated. The various types of information containing material may take many forms, from papers to personal computer disks to pamphlets to books. Each of these types of printed material may further be broken down into categories of importance, such as material which is to be kept within immediate reach, that which may be stored temporarily and that which may be filed away. However, organizational devices have been job specific, that is, have been dictated by the size of the material being organized. For example, books require large accessories which have adequate space and strength for materials of significant size. File systems for papers, on the other hand, do not require strength or provision for space so much as the need for support for the area of the paper so that it does not wrinkle or slip down and become lost or misplaced. Office accessories which organize printed material have long been the subject of patents, both design and utility.
Design patents which are, in general, decorative in nature and are used to organize paperwork are those such as U.S. Pat.No. Des. 161,333 (Gooken), U.S. Pat. No. Des. 170,306 (Clement et al.), U.S. Pat. No. Des. 194,425 (Hungerford), U.S. Pat. No. Des. 247,078 (Grusin) and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 300,639 (Klodt).
There have also been several utility patents which typify prior art attempts to aid in organizing paperwork. Examples of these types of patents are as follows.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,750,575 titled "Sectional Desk Accessory" (Warner I. Cubberly) relates to improvements in devices for supporting books, files, cards, folders, pamphlets, envelopes, plans, drawings and the like in a vertical position. This apparatus provides means for preventing these items from slipping or slumping down. This apparatus is a device which includes relatively interengaging members to hold several similarly constructed devices together to function as a unit for a desk classifying set, book ends, file cabinet follower system, compartmented tool and article rack and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,942,456 titled "Bookholder" (N. I. Stark) relates to book-ends, reading rests and pamphlet and paper holders and more particularly to a combination of one with the other. This apparatus includes the provision of a book-end that is engageable with the coverboards of a book and adapted to support the book in an open position and at a suitable angle of inclination for reading or copying. Another embodiment of this apparatus includes the provision of two book-ends that are engageable with each other or to a suitable backing to form an easel stand having a forwardly and upwardly extending shelf on which books and pamphlets may be held up to an open position. This shelf is wide enough to accommodate a ruler or other suitable article for preventing the pages from accidentally turning. Also included is the provision of two book-ends that are engageable one with the other to form a "U" shaped holder which may be used for books, pamphlets, letters and paper.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,807,369 titled "Support for Reading Matter" (Nathan I. Stark, et al.) relates to improvements in supports for reading material and supports having a line-guide for written or typed sheets. The apparatus described includes the provision of a support for general reading matter that may be placed so that is it always handy for immediate use. This apparatus includes the provision of a pair of book-ends, each engageable with the cover-boards of a book and adapted to prop the book in an open position at a suitable angle for reading or copying. This apparatus includes provision for a support for written or typed sheets having a guide for determining readily one line from another when copying.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,761 titled "Modulable Oblique Bin" (Rene Hermerlin) relates to a modulable oblique bin, in particular for the storing of documents which includes a series of compartments laid out side by side within a container having two parallel vertical walls connected to each other at their lower ends by a horizontal wall. The compartments consist of a plurality of obliquely-oriented divider units nested together and disposed within the container, each dividing unit having first, second, third and fourth planar sections connected together in series in end-to-end relationship to form a unit having a W-shaped cross-section. The adjacent sections are at right angles to each other and form inner and outer corners at the intersection of the sections. A final divider unit nests against the last of the divider units having a W-shaped cross-section and consists of first, second and third planar sections which are analogous to the first, second and third sections, respectively, of the units having a W-shaped cross-section. The second section of the final divider unit is provided with a pair of lateral guide means for retaining the fourth section of the immediately preceding divider unit against the lower surface of the second section of the final divider unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,921,811 titled "Media Holders for Bookshelves" (Jennie Rose Dameron) relates to a media holder in combination with a bookshelf for holding audio-visual materials in association with books on a shelf to combine all of the related materials to one compact assembly. The holder includes a support rack for the media and a U-shaped clamp constructed to fit over the top of the shelf and with a wall portion to engage underneath the shelf after extending along its edge. Space is provided on the holder for a pocket holder for a check-out card to be used in recording information with respect to the removal of the media.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,297,164 titled "Combination Bookend and Bookrack and Carton Therefor" (R. E. Hutchinson et al.) relates to a bookholder, and more particularly to a bookholder which may be used as a bookend, as a bookrack and as a podium. This device includes a bookholder which when used in pairs can serve as a bookend to support a row of books upon a support surface, which when used by itself can support a few books on a support surface as a bookrack, and which in yet another position can be used as a podium to support a book in the open position for easy reading by the user.
Although each of these patents have interesting uses, none provide an office accessory which can be used in a variety of ways to organize books, papers, pamphlets and other information containing items which may require support on two or more sides, and which are not used continuously, but must be close at hand for frequent use.